FRISCO, Texas — Despite their mediocre regular-season record, some tough matchups and the league MVP being on the other team, Los Angeles Galaxy players and coaches feel pretty good about their chances of winning the MLS Cup on Sunday.
After all, they've got Landon Donovan.
A two-time Cup winner and the top postseason scorer in the league's 10-year history, Donovan has helped the Galaxy overcome the ups and downs of a .500 season to reach the finals against the New England Revolution.
"When the playoffs come around, there's an extra burden on him to step up and he always does," Galaxy defender Todd Dunivant said Saturday. "I don't think there's anyone else in the league that you'd rather have to go out there and get a goal for you. It's great that he's on our team."
Donovan has scored 14 career playoff goals, with four coming in three games this postseason. Los Angeles has given up two goals this postseason. All told, it's a pretty good indication the Galaxy is peaking at the right time.
"Hopefully we're not at the peak," Donovan said, smiling. "Hopefully we have a couple hundred meters to go, then we'll be there."
The Revolution has expected to be here all season. They didn't lose until their 12th game and finished the regular season 17-7-8.
However, like New England's other Robert Kraft-owned franchise, the NFL Patriots, the Revs like to test their fans' blood pressure. They had seven game-winning goals and four tying goals in the 76th minute or later, including a rally from two goals down against the MetroStars in the first round of the playoffs.
New England is led by Taylor Twellman, who scored a league-best 17 goals this season and this week was named MVP. Yet he hasn't scored this postseason, an indication of the Revs' overall talent.
"If we do what we've done all year, we'll be fine," Twellman said. "You can see the attitude around here is pretty mellow. We're excited to play."
These clubs also met for the championship in 2002, with Los Angeles winning 1-0 on a goal by Carlos Ruiz in overtime. This one should be close, too, since the teams tied at 1 in both regular-season meetings.
"We're not coming here to make it an ugly game and battle it out and grind away," Donovan said. "We're coming to play soccer. It's going to be a fun game, an exciting game. We're just going to let it hang out and see what happens."
Donovan is playing for the trophy for the third time in five years, though this is his first finals appearance with his hometown team. He won with San Jose in 2001 and in 2003, when he scored twice and was the game's MVP. He also scored in the '01 game, when the Earthquakes beat his current club, the Galaxy.
"I don't think this is necessarily Landon against the Revs," Twellman said. "Landon's surrounded by many good players. L.A.'s on a roll right now and every single player has got to be accounted for. That's the way we're looking at it."
Los Angeles is 1-3 in league championship games. While the Galaxy have matched D.C. United for the most finals appearances, they already own the record for most runner-up finishes.
The only other time New England made it was the only time Los Angeles won it. For this one, team owner Kraft is skipping the Patriots game in Miami to see firsthand whether he'll be adding to his trophy case.
"It's not every week you get to play for a championship," he said.